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Russian Circles is an instrumental band based in Chicago. The band was originally formed by childhood friends Mike Sullivan and Dave Turncrantz after their previous musical projects dissolved. After parting ways with their original bass player Colin DeKuiper in 2007, the trio was rounded out by Brian Cook. The band has gained widespread recognition based on a series of critically acclaimed albums and extensive international touring. Their name is taken from a drill exercise used in ice hockey, a sport Sullivan and Turncrantz grew up playing in their original hometown of St. Louis.

Break of Reality has been applauded for their “genuine technique”, and their ability to “rock out like they mean it.” (Time Out New York). Their sound has been described as having “excitement, originality, and an undeniable intensity that louder, heavier bands only dream of. Break of Reality is going to win a Grammy someday. Bank on it.” (Rochester City Newspaper).

“Classic Rock” takes on a whole new meaning when Break of Reality hits the stage. The quartet’s boundary breaking music blends classical technique and rock’n’roll into something that brings together the best of both genres.

They appear on stage without the music stands or formal dress of a classical group and they talk to the audience like friends, spinning tales that illuminate the music they play, be it an original composition, a song by Tool or Radiohead, or a J. S. Bach arrangement. Critics have called them alt-classical, cello rock and indie-classical, but even the band isn’t sure what genre they fall into.

When asked how he categorizes Break of Reality, percussionist Ivan Trevino’s response is usually: “I don’t. Our sound came naturally from studying classical music by day in school and going to rock clubs by night. We’ve all heard classical musicians try to arrange rock music, but they often lack the soul. It can sometimes sound like classical musicians sight reading rock charts. We’re classically trained musicians, but also understand and love the raw qualities of rock; this dichotomy is very clear in our sound.”

“Break of Reality started at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY,” Trevino explains. “Patrick Laird, one of our founding members, was in the orchestra and asked friends to play some rock charts he’d arranged. The first gig was without a percussionist. He immediately knew he wanted the energy of a drummer to drive the sound he was hearing. I was one of the few ‘rockers’ at Eastman, so he asked me to play. At first, we were a heavy metal cello band. We had amps, we were loud and played rock covers or original rock tunes. Slowly, our classical side crept into what we were doing for a more all-encompassing sound. We’re still rockin’, but with more nuance.”

Since their formation in 2004, the band has released three self-produced records. The Sound Between EP (2006) and Spectrum of the Sky (2009) featured original songs, while Covers (2012) highlighted the band’s arrangements of tunes by J. S. Bach, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails and System of a Down. On TEN, the band presents another album of original compositions written by founding members Patrick Laird and Trevino. It was recorded in the band’s new studio and mixed by Laird to bring out the unique sound of the ensemble’s playing. Cellists Laura Metcalf and Adrian Daurov, current members of the band, contributed to the recording, as did cellists Brook Speltz and Meta Weiss. Marnie Laird, Patrick’s wife, played piano on several tracks.

The band will be supporting the release of TEN with a country-wide tour. “We’ll be playing the songs on TEN for the first time live,” Trevino says. “Our stage show is a true blend of a classical concert and rock show. We have tons of energy, but there are quite ‘classical’ moments too. Our audience runs from 13 to 70. You’ll see young rock fans, older classical music fans and middle aged hipsters standing together.”

To help fund their tour, the band launched a Kickstarter campaign. The funds they raised will finance visits to 10 public school districts for workshops and performances. Education is an important part of the band’s outreach to classical fans and, hopefully, future classical rockers. “We love going to schools to teach young musicians,” Trevino says. “Our goal is to increase awareness for music education, raise funds for the schools we’re visiting, and encourage the kids we’re working with. We invite students to perform with us, which is inspiring for both them and us. Student reaction has always been extremely positive. We show them they can play any kind of music, not just classical, and encourage them to think outside of the box. Teachers often email us saying how their students are practicing more and starting their own bands and music groups.”

The band has also developed a DIY Lecture Series, designed to empower budding classical musicians with practical, real world music business knowledge, fitting for a band that’s a self-contained small business. “We independently release our records, which allows us to sustain ourselves. We utilize social media, release videos on YouTube – our cover of the “Game of Thrones” theme has over 2.5 million views – and get played on Internet radio and other online platforms.” The band has had their music featured on Dateline NBC and an Emmy-winning segment of America’s Investigative Reports on PBS.

As the divisions between rock and classical, folk and pop and other genres continue to blur and dissolve, Break Of Reality is in a unique position to take advantage of the cross pollination that will be the future of music. “We’re surrounded by pop culture,” Trevino says. “That affects the kind of music we want to create. Personally, I don’t want to play in an orchestra. I like writing my own music, so having my own band is ideal. Rock is as much in our blood as classical music. Our music is organic; we’re not doing it as a gimmick to play rock music on the cello. We want our instruments to be respected both in the classical and rock worlds.”

If These Trees Could Talk is an instrumental post-rock band from Akron, Ohio. The band self-released their self-titled debut EP in 2006. Independent record label The Mylene Sheath re-released the EP on vinyl in 2007, and went on to release the band's debut studio album, Above the Earth, Below the Sky, on vinyl also, in 2009. The band self-released their second album Red Forest in March 2012, whilst the album's vinyl release went through Science of Silence Records. They went on to follow up the release of "Red Forest" with a self-promoted tour throughout Europe in April 2012. The band released its third album, The Bones of a Dying World, in June, 2016 on Metal Blade Records.

We Lost The Sea are an instrumental band from Sydney Australia. The band was originally formed by friends from multiple bands that had dissolved in 2007 from the outer west Sydney suburb of Campbelltown, NSW. The current line up is composed of Mark Owen, Matt Harvey, Nathaniel D’Ugo, Mathew Kelly and Kieran Elliott. Their third album Departure Songs gained them widespread acclaim within the post-rock and metal scenes around the world. The band have reached notable success internationally for their emotional and energetic live performances and modern and thematic approach to the post-rock genre. They are currently released through Australian independent record label Bird's Robe Records, which is distributed through MGM in Australia and independently worldwide. Dunk!Records in Europe and Translation Loss in North America.

Kerretta is an experimental rock band from Auckland, New Zealand. The band consists of bass player William Waters; drummer H.Walker; and guitarist David Holmes. They have been compared to Mogwai, Isis, and Russian Circles and have mostly recorded instrumentals.

Storm Corrosion was a musical collaboration between Mikael Åkerfeldt of Swedish progressive metal band Opeth and Steven Wilson, an English solo artist and frontman of the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Åkerfeldt and Wilson began a longstanding musical partnership in 2001 when Wilson produced Opeth's fifth studio album Blackwater Park. The two began writing together for a new project in 2010, releasing their self-titled first studio album on May 8, 2012 through Roadrunner Records.A critical success, Storm Corrosion marks a paradigm shift for Åkerfeldt and Wilson. Not wanting the project to be a progressive metal supergroup, the two used it as an opportunity to explore their more esoteric tastes in music, including Comus and Scott Walker. No touring or live performances of the album occurred, nor were any plans for future music established, with the two instead opting to return to their respective other musical projects.